Score a win for Consumers in California
June 5, 2009 by admin
Filed under Consumer Fraud
California voters and consumers just scored a major win despite substantial efforts from corporations and big business to change the laws regarding bringing lawsuits against corporations for false advertising. These companies, tobacco, insurance and other large corporations spent five times the normal amount to get Proposition 64 passed so that they could claim exemptions from their false advertising. It’s a wonder that Proposition 64 even passed in the first place, but score a major win for the consumers in this one and hopefully they as well as other consumers in other states will learn from this fiasco and understand the singular motive behind the corporations, money. The San Francisco Chronicle has a great write-up on this entire story. “Consumers win with court’s Prop. 64 decision“.
From the San Francisco Chronicle:
“The California Supreme Court, two weeks ago, reinstated consumers’ right to sue for false advertising in major lawsuits against the tobacco industry. Although the high court reversed the lower courts’ rulings, Prop. 64 stands as a cautionary tale about the power of money in politics.
Prop. 64’s proponents spent $14.5 million. That’s nearly five times the $3.1 million spent by the opposition, a coalition of consumer lawyers, environmentalists and unions.
The bulk of the money for the Yes-on-64 side came from corporations. Many of those corporate benefactors now are fending off major consumer lawsuits and investigations stemming from their greed and excesses earlier this decade. One of the largest corporate donors was American International Group, which survives only because it received $180 billion in taxpayer bailout money. AIG and its subsidiaries gave $180,000 to help pass Prop. 64. At the time, the company’s executives had been among the most strident advocates of limiting consumers’ right to sue.”
